Friday, July 20, 2012

Your feel-good SEIU story o' the day

After the collapse of 17-month-long union negotiations on July 3, unionized health-care workers walked out of five nursing home facilities in Connecticut, but not before placing some elderly patients in dire medical risk through acts of sabotage, according to the company that owns and operates the facilities.

“In the hours leading up to the strike by the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 SEIU (the Union) against five HealthBridge Management Health Care Centers in Connecticut, Union members engaged in multiple illegal and dangerous acts against Center residents,” reads a statement released by HealthBridge on Tuesday afternoon.

According to police reports[, ...] union employees in at least three of its facilities intentionally mixed up or removed patient name plates, photos, medical bracelets and dietary advisories as they began their strike. Additionally, the police reports include allegations of both vandalism and larceny.

...The police report states that “prior to the employee labor strike … the name tags on the patient’s doors for the Alzheimer’s ward were mixed up. The photos attached to the medical records for these patients were removed...

...Also, dietary blue stickers affixed to the door name tags were removed,” the report continued. A source with knowledge of HealthBridge’s operations told TheDC that those stickers identify residents that have dysphagia, or trouble swallowing. Those patients have special dietary restrictions to prevent them from choking...

@ Patrick Yes there are good nursing homes but they are few and far between. I know of one and it's excellent. The I know of another I wouldn't send my dead cat to. Moldy bread, no heat during the winter when the furnace died and the maintence guy was on vacation with THE ONLY KEY. Staff stealing meds. The list goes on and on. Sadly that's where Kaiser shoved my wife with her broken back instead of sending her to their spinal facility in Vallejo. I'm guessing to save money.